All New: X-Men
by wings198
Summary: Charles Xavier is dead and the X-Men are fighting their own. Can Rogue pick up the pieces, and do her bit to keep the dream alive?
1. Chapter 1

**T _he Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, Weeks Ago_**

"Rogue", a voice called. Anna Marie turned away from the window, away from the throngs that had assembled to mourn the loss of Charles Xavier. It was just one more in a long string of tragedies. Moira, Jean, Warren, Sean, Kurt … the list went on.

The crowd continued to mingle outside. The X-Men had deemed that the school itself was still a tad too unpredictable to allow so many to enter. Hank still hadn't managed to completely stop the sporadic Danger Room activations that had plagued staff and students almost since day one and that was without mentioning the extradimensional gremlins known as Bamfs. She had figured this would mean she could count on being alone inside the school for a little while. She should have known.

"Bobby, this ain't really the time." she said brimming with annoyance.

Life had taken a frustrating turn as of late. The mutant race had once again sparked to life but human-mutant relations were back to square one, the Professor was dead, Scott Summers was a criminal and the Avengers were insisting on making Magneto a wanted fugitive.

Before M-Day, the event which had depowered all but a few hundred mutants, mutantkind had begun to find its feet. Despite the atrocities that had been committed against them there were signs that people were beginning to accept them. Now, law enforcement around the world attacked emerging mutants on sight and no one batted an eyelid. Their messiah had saved them but where was hope now?

"What? You don't even know why I'm here." Bobby Drake, the mutant known as Iceman replied, his face lighting up with a brief flash of mock innocence.

Rogue couldn't help but give him a weak smile. Here they were mourning the man who had meant so many different things to all of them and Bobby was still the same, loyal to a fault, always there for his friends no matter what he himself was going through because…because somebody had to keep it together on the outside even if on the inside they were falling apart. That was what Bobby did best.

"Then ah'll bite. Why are you here, Bobby? Why aren't you out there with Kitty?"

Bobby let out a sigh. "Kitty is… busy. She and Hank have their hands full with the students."

They both remained silent for a few moments. Rogue cursed herself, she had been so caught up in her own grief that she hadn't given a thought to the idea that maybe Bobby hadn't come here so she could cry on his shoulder but that it was the other way around.

"She always did think the Professor was a jerk anyways."

At this the two mutants couldn't help but laugh. Although neither of them had been on the team when Kitty had thrown a strop at being downgraded from the X-Men to the New Mutants, her tantrum had entered the annals of Xavier's.

"What do you think happens now?" Bobby asked and his voice seemed to quiver ever so slightly.

Rogue was taken aback by the question.

"What d'ya mean?" she asked him.

"I mean," Bobby began, quieter than before. "Last time we thought the Professor was dead we just up and went our separate ways."

"Yeah, but last time mutants was on the verge of dying out.," Rogue rebuffed. "We'd just sent Hope into the future and it didn't last long."

Bobby cast his eyes to the ground. "It's just hard you know? Scott just… killed him right in front of us." His voice trembled.

"I'm sorry", he said leaning against the wall, his expression pained, struggling to keep his tears back as he let himself slide to the ground.

Rogue moved towards him and placed her hand on his shoulder as she bent down.

"Bobby, you can't give up", she said.

"We've got more hope now than we've had for a long time."

Rogue was unsure that she believed the words herself but that wasn't the point. She wasn't the one she needed to convince right now.

"That's not really saying much is it?" Bobby said his features flickering with the hint of a smile.

"Guess not", Rogue replied. "But something's better than nothing."

"Thanks, Rogue," Bobby said as he got up and began to walk in the direction of the stairs, back out to the crowd.

"Bobby," she called.

He turned.

"Ah'm sorry ah snapped at you earlier. Solitude is a habit of mine. It didn't help havin' other people around when ah was trying to get away from voices in mah head."

"Old habits, die hard, huh?"

"Yeah, ah guess so."

 _ **The Gold Coast, Australia. Thursday.**_

Eva Bell was not having a good day. She couldn't believe that Steven had followed her here. He had always been protective of her, if you'd asked him, he would have told you that he was only looking out for her. Eva knew that already of course, she had tried to tell him gently that he was stifling her and that she didn't need him constantly looking over her shoulder for her. He hadn't listened, never had and probably never would. That tended to happen to Eva a lot. Now things were spiraling out of control.

"You hit me?" Steven yelled at David and his friends as they surrounded him, his anger growing with each passing second. "You hit me?!"

Eva could see that things were about to kick off in earnest if she didn't do something. Her friend Louise stood by her side; aghast at what was happening but seemingly incapable of doing anything about it.

"Stop it!" she yelled. But they didn't pay her any attention. Not her brother, not David and certainly not David's friends.

"STOP!" Eva screamed, louder than she had ever screamed. For a split second she had the feeling of being caught like a mouse in a trap and then something incredible happened.

Suddenly everyone _did_ stop. Eerie quiet. No sound, no movement, no nothing. Everything froze surrounded by a blue haze of energy.

"What, uh what is this?" No reply.

Eva walked over to Steven and David. "What's wrong with you?"

Again Eva received no reply.

This was weird, really weird. Eva's mind flashed back. She remembered something vaguely similar happening in New York a while back. One of the superheroes had accidentally sent an entire terrorist cell into comas. Eva remembered the footage of him floating high in the air, blue energy very similar to that surrounding everyone flowing around him. She looked up but no such luck, no magic people in the sky freezing everyone to the spot like flies caught in amber. Everyone except her that was.

"What's happening?" Eva cried out hoping somebody could hear, that she wasn't alone and curb the rising panic within her.

"You're a mutant, sugah." Eva heard a voice from behind say.

She spun around to see a woman walking towards her garbed in a dark green costume and a hooded cloak of the same colour. White trimmings were visible on her tunic, boots and gloves and cloak, a small white X pinning the cloak to the tunic. She had long brown hair that fell past her shoulders and streaks of pure white made up her fringe.

Rogue could see the brown haired young woman's thoughts were racing at what she had just said, struggling to deny it. Rogue couldn't begrudge her, she'd cursed her own abilities often enough. Having been raised by two mutants, Rogue hadn't been uncomfortable with the idea of being one but she knew better than anyone that being a mutant wasn't always a gift.

"I-I'm not a mutant." the young woman replied.

"Don't worry ah'm here to help you. Mah name's Anna but most people know me as Rogue, ah'm one of the X-Men."

Rogue felt so out of practice. Despite being the one who chaperoned Hope as she activated the Five Lights, it had been a while since any of the X-Men had dealt with a new mutant activating and every time it happened now it seemed far more surreal. They had all felt like this part of their lives was a closed door that they were forced to leave behind them.

"You're an X-Man?" the young woman asked.

"You've heard of us." Rogue smiled. "Ah'm gonna help you through this, what's your name?"

The worry on the young woman's face seemed to drain away somewhat.

"Eva. I'm Eva. Eva Bell."

"Okay first thing's first we have to-" Rogue's eyes widened.

"Thank you, Rogue." announced Scott Summers, the erstwhile X-Man known as Cyclops as he strided purposefully towards them. On either side of him were Emma Frost, the telepathic White Queen and Erik Lehnsherr, the mutant master of magnetism, Magneto.

"We'll take it from here."

"Y'all must be outta your minds if- -" Rogue began as she raced towards her former teammates, letting one of her gloves fall to the pavement. Then she stopped, her muscles locking as she reached an outstretched hand towards Emma's face. Emma stiffened as if she too was unable to move.

 _Eva, Scott and Erik all faded from Rogue's vision as her perceptions shifted. The one constant was Emma, whose position did not change as their surroundings turned to formless black, although oddly both women were clearly able to make each other out. Emma glanced around as her freedom of movement was restored, followed by Rogue's a moment later._

" _Strictly speaking, that's not really true," Emma said her back turned as she cast a glance in Rogue's direction, her voice taking on the echoing that often accompanied travel to mental planes._ " _We've just been dragged inside your mind. I must say Rogue, the décor is very minimal."_

 _Rogue got up off the ground as Emma turned to face her. "As ah recall, the inside of your head ain't much better."_

" _That's true, and for what it's worth I approve. I didn't come here to trade barbs."_

" _Then, why did you come here?" Rogue asked, not bothering to hide the anger she was feeling._

" _That girl's scared stiffless, Emma! Whatever the hell it is y'all are thinking, she shouldn't be dragged into this."_

" _Trust me, Rogue," Emma said. "I had no part in this... and you clearly didn't either. Someone else brought us here, God knows why."_

" _Get out of mah mind."_

" _I can't," Emma said softly._

" _You were one of the X-Men's most powerful telepaths. Would it kill you to try?"_

" _Rogue-"_

" _No, Emma," Rogue said, cutting Emma off as figures began to emerge from the darkness that constituted her psyche and gradually took on solid shape. Iceman, Northstar, Shadowcat, Wolverine, Chamber, Frenzy, Gambit, Storm, even Toad and Doop…Emma was surrounded from all sides, a legion of imprinted minds coming at her from every direction._

" _If ah'm being honest, ah'm not even sure if ah should trust you. Ah want to, ah really do but you better start doing your damnedest to get us out of here before ah make you do it."_

" _Rogue," Emma intoned calmly, her voice level even as the imprints came ever closer. "I'd be perfectly happy to get out of your mind even if it wasn't for the impressive number of your fellows you managed to imprint before coming here. But the simple fact is I can't."_

" _Cut the crap," Rogue announced dismissively. "Ah've got you beat."_

" _She's not lying." a trio of voices chorused._

 _Rogue and the imprints turned. Before them stood the Stepford Cuckoos, the teenage telepathic hive mind known as the Three-In-One. They began striding towards the crowd in unison, their identical movements creating an effect so mesmerising it caused everyone to stop in their tracks and simply stare._

 _Pheobe broke ranks with her sisters, launching an attack on the imprints that separated them from Rogue and Emma. She moved with unerring speed taking down several imprints before they had time to react, launching diamond shards into the ground below Iceman and Doop before watching them grow and encase the pair in sparkling cocoons. Irma and Celeste backed her up by creating a transparent cube to ensnare Wolverine._

 _The Storm imprint sent a sheet of lightning in Phoebe's direction but she transformed into her flawless diamond form and shrugged off the attack. Irma adopted a similar tactic as Shadowcat threw a punch, forcing Kitty to phase through her and right into the path of Chamber's energy blast before Celeste knocked him over with a well placed psi bolt of her own. Joining hands, the three sisters' eyes glowed ice blue before diamond spires rose from the fissures of possibility, the combined might of the Cuckoos' psionic gestalt quickly managing to encase Rogue's mental army within a glittering crystalline prison._

" _Girls," Emma said. She was surprised yet at the same time her voice was filled with both joy at seeing her prize pupils again and disapproval of what they had just done._

" _Y'all have five seconds to tell me what the hell is going on." Rogue said clenching her fists and readying for a fight._

" _I'm sure there's no need to make demands, Rogue." Emma reassured as Celeste then piped up by her side._

" _When Ms Frost was freed by Mr Summers, I managed to locate her via Cerebra before she disappeared again. I saw how unhappy she was about joining Mr. Summers' team and so we came. She would have contacted you herself but…"_

" _As I was about to say Rogue, before you interrupted," Emma cut in. "I've lost my telepathy. Despite the fact that I've hosted the Phoenix before, this time it had more of an effect on me and its other wielders. Our powers simply put, have been sent haywire. I don't know about Piotr, Hope or Namor but both Scott and I have been having problems and Illyana…her abilities have actually been enhanced."_

" _Ah've gotta be sure you're telling the truth and y'all know ah only have one way of doing that." Rogue said, tugging at one of her hands with the other._

" _I don't pretend to understand it," Emma stated. "When the Phoenix Force left the girls for example it had no effect other than a brief coma."_

" _Before we send you both back to the physical world, there is something you should know," Irma announced. "Eva's time bubble collapsed. She left with Magneto and Mr Summers but we took control of your motor functions and managed to get you both back to the Blackbird."_

 _With that both she and Phoebe turned around and began to walk away, a door materialising in front of them. Celeste hesitated for a moment and gave Emma a quick hug._

" _Celeste!" the other two Cuckoos yelled. Celeste ran to her sisters and together they stepped through._

Emma awoke in the co-pilot's seat to the hum of the Blackbird already in flight. She sat up and tried to straighten out her cape which had bundled up underneath her. She regretted not wearing something more comfortable than her current all white ensemble consisting of the cape which made a very modest attempt to cover up the white corset she had on, along with white pants and white high heels.

"You're awake" Rogue remarked, her tone icy as she avoided taking her eyes off the controls.

"Rogue" Emma said. "If you have a problem with me I'm afraid you will actually have to specify what it is this time."

"Ah absorbed your memories Emma, some of your power too. Ah trust what you've said but Eva…She got taken into Scott's "revolution" because of the stunt the Cuckoos pulled."

"Rogue, even if we had joined forces, Erik all on his lonesome could have proven too powerful for us and we wouldn't be in a position to help Eva. As it stands, we are. I take it you've informed Logan of the location of Scott's base?"

The Blackbird came to a halt as it landed in the hangar of the Jean Grey School, its engines quieting as both Emma and Rogue unstrapped themselves from their seats.

"Turns out Scott doesn't trust you as much as you thought he did. I guess given what just happened he was right. They were gone by the time the others got there, Emma. We lost her and got you. Not sure if I'd call that a fair trade."

But as Rogue got up and turned to leave the plane something caused her to stop in her tracks.

"What is it?" Emma asked, experienced enough in telepathy to recognise the reading of an untoward thought.

"Hank."

 _ **The Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, Basement Level C, The Laboratory of Dr Henry McCoy a.k.a Beast**_

This wasn't fair thought Hank McCoy as he lay on the floor of his lab; the slightest movement sending shockwaves of searing pain through his system. Apparently it wasn't enough that he was blue, had fur and looked like a cat.

Well, if his body had anything to say about it he wouldn't survive this tertiary (or was it quadertiary?) mutation. He would lie here, his condition gradually worsening until his heart finally gave out and he would die. Alone.

"Ab-Abigail" he managed, his breathing laboured.

God, he wished she was here. If only so he could say goodbye. He wished they were all here. Even Scott. He'd die happy if he knew that his death could bring them all together again.

Hank cursed his pride. It was pride that had caused him to be permanently mutated in the first place and now it was that same stubborn pride that was going to kill him. He was the world's foremost expert on mutation but that didn't mean others didn't have insights that could have saved him. Instead he lay awaiting the end, watching as fluid from shattered test tubes dribbled towards each other, creating patterns and reactions that danced in front of his eyes.

Suddenly Rogue and (was he seeing things?) Emma Frost burst into the lab, quickly followed by Kitty and Bobby.

"Hank!" Kitty yelled, her mop of brown hair flying through Emma's face as she raced to Hank's side, the others crowding around her anxiously.

"He's still breathing," she said. "But we need to get him to a hospital."

"There's no time," Rogue said urgently. "He's going through another secondary mutation. It's killing him."

"What?" Bobby exclaimed. "Why didn't he tell anyone?"

" _Rachel,"_ Rogue called out telepathically. " _Did you send word?"_

" _Yes,_ " Rachel Grey, the school's premier telepath replied. " _Nothing from the Future Foundation, David Alleyne or Horizon Labs."_

"Damn, guess we're doing this the old fashioned way." Rogue said to herself. She removed one of her gloves then touched her palm to one of Hank's, closing her eyes as she let his knowledge bleed into her.

"Okay, I just absorbed him." she told the others. "Ah'm gonna use Emma's power to go into his head, see if the two of us can't figure it out. But in case that doesn't work…"

Bobby seemed to understand. "I'll get Rachel to contact Cecelia Reyes and Agent Brand."

"Tell her to have Pixie teleport Cecelia here." Emma said.

Bobby nodded as he ran out of the lab almost tripping over a wire as he went. Rogue got to work, slipping into a trance as she entered Hank's mind but Kitty wasn't content to let Emma's order go unnoticed.

"You've got no right -" she started but Emma interrupted her.

"I came here," she said. "Because you were right. I didn't know when to leave. Henry is dying, Kitty. I don't think this is the time to continue our spat, I don't think you do either or was what you said about our similarities just talk?"

Kitty was taken aback. Had the White Queen just admitted that she, Kitty Pryde, Shadowcat was right? She fell silent as Emma got down on her knees beside her and put her hands together.

"I've never prayed before." Emma said, seemingly to herself. They knelt, praying for just one more miracle.

 _ **The Mindscape of Hank McCoy,PhD**_

" _Hank?" Rogue called out, her surroundings blurring and changing as she slipped into her teammate's head. Finally settling, Rogue stood in the middle of a football field. The sun was shining but something seemed off about the mindscape that Rogue couldn't quite place. Hank appeared in front of her, his feline features regarding her with a sad smile._

" _Hello, Rogue." he said greeting her. "I suppose you've come in an attempt to save me?"_

" _Well, yes." Rogue said. "Hank, where are we?"_

 _Hank chuckled, his laughter deep and booming. "Why in my mind, of course. The question you meant to ask, my dear is where are we meant to be?"_

 _He gestured behind him. "I used to play here when I was a teenager. I suppose my impending doom has made me nostalgic." He gave another chuckle but he couldn't hide the sadness in his eyes._

" _There's nothing to be done, Rogue. I've searched for an answer and I couldn't-" Hank was cut off for a moment as the mindscape flickered. "It appears I'm running out of time."_

" _You were working on a way to fix this, Hank. Show me." Rogue pleaded._

" _I take it you've used your absorption talent to gain a portion of my knowledge? Let me think…" Hank muttered._

" _Ahh… here we are." Equations popped into existence around the pair, a seemingly chaotic mix of symbols, numbers and letters._

" _As you know, years ago I tampered with my mutation, causing myself to mutate into a more ape-like form. Now that tampering is again causing me to mutate even further but my body is unable to withstand the pressure. I've been-"_

" _Hank," said Rogue interrupting him. "Look at this."_

 _She pointed at one of the equations. "It's wrong."_

 _Hank stared for a moment as Rogue corrected the mistake, causing a ripple effect as all subsequent equations changed to reflect the new outcome._

" _Oh my stars and garters." He whispered._

 _Rogue smiled and let her mind drift back to her body._

" _She's back,"_ Rachel called out telepathically as Rogue blinked, her eyes readjusting to the harsh florescent lighting of the lab. She was aware that Bobby had returned, accompanied by Dr Cecelia Reyes who knelt beside Hank, trying to keep his condition stable. Emma, Kitty and Bobby stood at the other end of the room trying to stay out of Cecelia's way, their concern for Hank evident.

"So?" Bobby asked as Rogue made her way over to them. She couldn't help grinning.

"He's going to make it, but if y'all will excuse us," Rogue said pointing at her head. "Me and Hank have some work to do."

 **Some Time Later**

"So, the furball's gonna be okay?" Logan a.k.a the Wolverine and headmaster of the school enquired, as Rogue exited the lab.

"You're calling him a furball?" she retorted.

"Cute," he replied.

"Yeah, Hank is gonna be fine." Rogue said, finally answering Logan's question. "Ah managed to stabilise his mutation, stop him from mutating anymore than he has. Hopefully, it'll mean this won't happen again."

"Agent Brand is upstairs." Logan said.

"Thanks for the warning," Rogue said as she passed him. "Ah'll be sure to tell her she can see Hank in a bit, once we've got him moved to the Med Bay."

"There's somethin' else she wanted to talk to me about. Somethin' she needs the X-Men's help with."

"What?"

Rogue almost regretted asking the question once she heard the answer. In all her years as an X-Man, Anna Marie had fought many terrifying foes. She'd been through hell and always made it out the other side. But as Logan gave her his reply she felt a chill go up her spine and fear clutch her heart.

"The Brood."

 _ **The Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, Friday**_

"The Brood," Agent Brand began, the lights dimming as she gestured to the hologram of the hideous creature that was being projected in the middle of the X-Men's war room.

"An insect-like alien race of imperialistic parasites that reproduce by forcibly implanting their eggs within other sentient organisms. As of now, they're our problem."

"As of now?" asked Logan, seated across from Brand. "When did they ever fucking stop?"

"What Logan meant to say, Agent Brand, is that we know what the Brood are." Rogue cut in.

"An' what Rogue meant to say, Brand, is get to the point an' tell her what ya told me." Logan snarled.

"The short version?" Brand asked. "After we sent the Brood back to their home system they began to expand again. What's surprising is how fast they did it. They've taken a world on the borders of Kree space and now the Kree are asking for our help to take it back."

"Wait a minute," said Rogue "Don't the Kree rule the Shi'ar now? Why not ask them for help?"

"As I understand it, the Kree are happy to let the Shi'ar Empire remain largely independent, probably in an attempt to mitigate any resentment the Shi'ar might harbour towards them." Brand explained frankly. "Which means bringing in the Shi'ar Imperial Guard isn't an option."

"So what exactly is it you're asking for?" Rogue asked.

"A team of X-Men heading to the Peak within the week," Brand stated plainly.

"What's the catch?" Rogue asked as she eyed the director of S.W.O.R.D.

"There's no catch." Brand said, deactivating the hologram and rising to her feet. "I'm asking for your help. The X-Men have one of the best track records in the galaxy when it comes to the Brood and this mission requires that sort of experience. "

Brand left the room and Rogue began to ponder the situation. Abigail Brand had a tumultuous relationship with the X-Men. She had spied on them and manipulated them. She alternated between requesting their aid and forcing their hand. She was a difficult woman to read, not surprising since she ran a covert counter-terrorism and intelligence agency. It was clear as day however, that she didn't like asking them for help. She had come to them because she had no other choice in the matter and despite themselves the X-Men had struck up a working relationship with the green garbed mutant due in no small part to her relationship with Beast.

"So," she said, breaking the silence. "Who've ah got, Logan?"

"That's the problem." Logan said rubbing his temples. "We're overstretched. Between the school, Scott and every other damn thing under the sun, we ain't got a lot to work with. We can't afford to go waltzin' off into space just because Hydra-hair asked nicely."

"Ah thought you wanted me on this." Rogue said, the surprise in her voice palpable.

"I do," Logan said "I'm just tellin' ya that I can't give you more than two of the faculty. Every other X-Man is off the cards. The rest's up to you."

"Do you remember what happened last time ah handpicked a team?" Rogue asked.

"No," he said. "But I'm damn sure you haven't either. Not like Cyke ever let you forget it."

Rogue was grateful for Logan's vote of confidence. They hadn't always seen eye to eye as of late but Rogue saw this as her chance. She'd been talking about standing on her own two feet and what Logan was offering her was a perfect vehicle for that.

"Ah'll need a telepath." she told him.

"Figured as much." Logan replied. "Let's go tell her the good news…"

 **The Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, Room 317, Psychic Self-Defence**

 **Substitute Instructor: Elizabeth Braddock a.k.a Psylocke**

Betsy Braddock concentrated as her head was bathed in the pink-purple glow of the butterfly aura that appeared whenever she made use of her mutant power of telepathy. Focusing on the task at hand, she pressed her mind against those of her students.

Both stayed perfectly still as Betsy probed their defences for any sign of weakness. Of course staying still wasn't difficult for the living brain known as Martha Johannson, encased as she was within a glass dome attached to a gravity sled. It gave her a degree of movement when she wasn't so intently concentrated on keeping her teacher out of her mind.

By Martha's side stood Quentin Quire, the self professed "Kid Omega". Betsy regarded him quizzically as she noticed that he was smirking. What did he have to be so smug about? Then she felt it. Quire was attempting to barge through her own psychic defences. Once she thought about it Betsy realised that she really shouldn't have been surprised. Quire always looked for any opportunity to undermine any of the school's teachers or rebel against their authority. But there were disadvantages to skipping classes and not doing one's homework. If Quire had studied up on her, he would have learned of her immunity when it came to straight up telepathic attacks such as his.

Once upon a time, when her brother Jamie had brought her back from the dead she had been immune to any form of telepathy. This ability had waned somewhat since her resurrection, especially after Jamie's death but it still granted her a degree of protection and Betsy knew that Quire wasn't a fan of subtlety. His smile faded as he bounced off Betsy's barrier.

Betsy seized the opportunity and wormed her way into the little twat's brain, simultaneously activating all of Quire's pain receptors. He shrieked and fell to the ground as he was overwhelmed by sheer agony. Betsy couldn't help but smile. She knew that it was wrong but her frustrations had been getting the worst of her ever since she had come to the Jean Grey School.

Many of the others seemed to take to teaching far more naturally than she did. They never seemed to resort to taking their problems out on the students. Well perhaps with the exceptions of Logan and Rachel, the latter of whom took a sadistic glee in exposing the student body's deepest darkest secrets.

She felt out of place. Being a teacher just wasn't in her nature, she knew that. She had always wanted to be a warrior, capable of defending those she loved and when Spiral transferred her mind into the body of the asian ninja Kwannon that was exactly what she became. She needed to be out there doing something, not stuck in Westchester having to deal with Quire.

Finally, she released her control over Quire's nervous system. He continued to writhe on the floor for a minute or two for dramatic effect. When Quire finally made an attempt to rise to his feet, Martha psychically jabbed him causing him to fall down again.

"Class dismissed," Betsy said as she made for the stairs that lead out of the psi-shielded classroom. She was glad to see that she wasn't the only one who was sick at the sight of Quentin Quire.

" _Betsy,"_ Rachel broadcasted to her from the Cerebra Chamber, where she had been stationed ever since the Cuckoos had manipulated events to bring Emma Frost to the school. " _Logan just asked me to tell you that he needs to see you in his office right away."_

She thanked Rachel and began to make her way to Logan's office. She wondered what this was about. He couldn't know what had just happened could he? Would Betsy truly care? If it wasn't for the fact that the school was providing her with a roof over her head she probably would have left by now.

She had been away for a while and Betsy reminded herself that it hadn't worked out well. That was the reason she was here. If that hadn't worked out and this wasn't either what was she going to go?

She turned the door knob and let herself in. Logan was there of course and to Betsy's surprise as was Rogue. Intrigued, Betsy sat down in one of the chairs opposite Logan.

"How do you feel about leaving the school?" Logan asked her.

Betsy jumped to what seemed like the only possible conclusion and as much as she wouldn't mind leaving, being fired would hurt. It was one thing, after all, for her to acknowledge that teaching wasn't for her. It was another thing entirely to be fired.

"You're firing me?" she replied furiously. "Is this about Quire?"

"What?" Logan exclaimed. "No! What did you do to Quire?"

"Forget about that Logan," Rogue said as she attempted to diffuse the situation. "He didn't mean permanently Betsy. Ah'm putting together a team to take on the Brood and we were wondering if you'd want to be a part of it."

Betsy felt her cheeks flush. Well Logan would certainly know about Quire now. He would never be able to write him off as a lost cause and despite her feelings Betsy couldn't allow herself to write him off either. They had both seen where those thoughts led.

"I know you've had trouble acclimatising to the school," Logan explained. "I figured this would be good for you."

"I see," Betsy said as she mulled things over.

"I'll get ready." she said, betraying no emotion as she left the room.

"She didn't seem over the moon about it, Logan." Rogue said apprehensively as Betsy began to close the door. "Not that ah blame her."

"Don't let her fool you." Logan said. "She's been itching for a fight ever since she got here."

Betsy smiled. Logan knew her too well. She sensed however that that the meeting next door wasn't going half as well as her own had.

 **The Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, Headmistress' Office**

"Kitty?" Bobby Drake asked as he entered. "Can we talk?"

Her head rested on the desk and she appeared to have fallen asleep, the desk cluttered with several files, books and folders. She'd left the drawers of several of the filling cabinets open, probably so that she didn't have to bother opening them again later. Bobby had figured that Kitty would have less on her plate towards the end of the day but that didn't seem to be the case.

Without warning, a crazed purple blur lunged at Bobby, clawing at his face. Bobby stumbled sideways, blinded as Lockheed's talons gave the dragon a firm grip on his head and sent him crashing into a filling cabinet with a loud bang.

Kitty's eyes shot open and she yelped, her computer beginning to smoke as she phased through her desk. "Lockheed, stop it!" she yelled, scrambling to her feet.

Lockheed paused from ripping Bobby's face to shreds to look imploringly at Kitty before warbling a question.

"No!" Kitty answered horrified. Lockheed muttered something else and flew into a drawer marked 'Lockheed: Sulking'. It slammed shut.

Ignoring the smoking computer, Kitty helped Bobby up and examined his face which was now riddled with scratches.

"I'll be fine." Bobby said. "Watch."

With that, the temperature in the room lowered by several degrees as Bobby transformed into his ice form using the ambient moisture in the air to replenish the skin he had lost. He returned to normal, good as new.

"Sorry about that. Lockheed's always been…protective of me." Kitty decided. Is there something you wanted?"

"It's okay. It's not important." Bobby said a little bit too quickly, subconsciously touching the back of his head.

"Then I'll talk to you later?" Kitty asked, the slightest hint of disappointment present in her voice.

"Sure," Bobby said. "I'll leave you to it."

Bobby quickly turned and left, letting another chance to arrange his agreed upon date with Kitty on a date to slip through his fingers. Bobby couldn't help it, he felt nervous, scared even and it certainly didn't help that every time he so much as glanced in Kitty's direction he had to worry about a small fire-breathing dragon melting him into a puddle. He didn't even know the last time he'd had a date let alone a good one. He figured Mystique didn't count.

Bobby was shaken out of his reverie as he rounded a corner and found Rogue standing at the door to his room.

"Hey, Rogue," Bobby said.

"You alright, Bobby? You seem kind of out of it."

"Yeah, just working through some stuff."

"Kitty?"

"No…"

"You wanna talk about it?"

"Okay," Bobby acquiesced. "But's let's not talk out in the hallway. I know that ship already sailed but I don't want to feed the rumour mill anymore than I already have."

"Ah don't get the problem." Rogue said as she entered Bobby's room. "She likes you, Drake. I thought you guys already arranged a date."

"Yeah, but it hasn't gone any further than that and I think after Lorna and Annie…I've been the rebound guy before, Rogue. It's not fun. I don't want to go through that again especially after…Jeez, this is awkward…"

Bobby's cheeks began to redden.

"Yeah, I'm gonna stop you there Bobby," Rogue said.

"I'll figure it out," Bobby sighed. "Anyways, was there something you wanted?"

"Yeah, ah was going to ask to ask you how you'd feel about beating up some aliens."

"You always know just what to say." Bobby teased.

"Shut up." Rogue snorted, hitting him with a pillow. "So, what do you say?"

"That sounds perfect."

"Problem is we're short on manpower. You're a good guy, Bobby and ah thought if anyone had any favours they could call in…"

"It would be me." Bobby said, finishing Rogue's sentence for her. "I'll see what I can do."

 _ **The Grounds of the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, Sunday**_

Laynia Petranova shielded her eyes as she stepped forward into the early morning light and felt the shadows around her scatter. Her eyes widened as she took in the sight before her. When Bobby had asked her to come to the school this hadn't been what she had been expecting.

The main building was a bizarre mishmash, a marriage of the traditional and the futuristic, brownstone flowing seamlessly into metal. Whoever had designed the school seemed to have been unable to decide what the building should look like and so had merely thrown all their ideas at it and hoped for the best. Bobby had put his own stamp on it, with the entire east wing of the school having been covered in ice which glistened and reflected the sunlight. The result was odd to say the least but strangely aesthetically pleasing. Two towers floated overhead, kept aloft God knows how and before her stood a statue of the deceased Jean Grey.

She paused for a moment to read the inscription on the statue but before she got a chance the ground began to give way beeath her feet. Instinctively she teleported, the shadows curling around her before she reappeared twenty feet away. She saw a giant hand and then an arm composed of soil and dirt rise out of the ground where she had stood, accompanied by a loud roar that shattered the calm that had pervaded the grounds mere moments before.

Vines crept forward bringing her feet out from under her. Laynia panicked, haphazardly flinging shadows in an effort to free herself. She eventually landed a hit as she was dragged across the damp grass. With the vines weakened Laynia managed to pull herself free from their grip, hastily erecting a barrier to block an incoming mountain of dirt.

Accessing her link to the Darkforce Dimension, Laynia pushed off the ground and steered herself upwards. The soil followed, reaching out to grab her. She created another barrier and grimaced. Pain blossomed from her brain as the earth collided with her shield.

Laynia let darkness engulf her once more, reappearing just outside the main entrance. She darted inside, slamming the door behind her. The lobby was empty. Laynia paused for a moment to catch her breath, leaning against a wall while keeping an eye on the door.

" **ATTENTION: YOUR DANGER ROOM EXAMINATION HAS BEGUN."**

Laynia sprinted for the front desk as several rockets streaked towards her, seemingly out of nowhere. She jumped over it just as metal spikes protruded the floor, missing her by nanoseconds. Was this meant to be a school or a death trap?

She peered over the desk, coming face to face with a strange array of various armaments all aimed squarely at her. Ducking again, she thought the situation through. She remembered what Bobby had told her the day before; the grounds were inhabited by the sentient grandchild of the mutant island known as Krakoa. That had been what had attacked her outside. She had teleported straight into the grounds and not given this Krakoa ample time to judge her intentions as she approached

Now, the voice over the speaker had mentioned the Danger Room, where the X-Men trained in the use of their mutant gifts. It utilised Shi'ar hard-light technology, creating solid holograms and enviroments for the X-Men to fight against. It appeared that when they rebuilt the school they had integrated that technology throughout the entire structure allowing it to be used for several training sessions at once.

This gave Laynia some confidence. She was Darkstar of the Winter Guard and a newly minted X-Man. The situation was well within her grasp. Instead she pressed herself against the desk. What was wrong with her? What was she afraid of? She knew the answer of course.

She had died before as a mind controlled slave of a tool of the Weapon Plus Program and she wasn't keen on reliving the experience. She'd spent years languishing in limbo, her corpse rotting in Paris while her consciousness stayed tethered to the world via her connection to the Darkforce and her amulet. Her government using her image and abilities while her body was briefly used as a puppet for yet another, the mutant sorceress known as Selene. Eventually she had managed to will herself back to life, just in time to save the lives of her friends and teammates.

She could not go back so she hid instead. Every time she thought she had dealt with the problem it all came crashing down again, making her more of a slave than she had ever been before. Nicolai had wanted her to see a psychologist but she had refused, vowing to conquer her fear alone for all the good that had done.

She hid for several more minutes, paralysed as her fear engulfed her and spread through her like a disease. She gulped air but couldn't seem to get enough. She filled her lungs but found herself breathless. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't move, she shut her eyes as she curled into a ball in an effort to shut it all out but all it did was make her feel she was in a coffin again. This was all down to her and she could- No she couldn't! She felt the tears rush down her cheeks as her hopelessness closed in on her and she began to sob. She couldn't believe how pathetic she was.

"Laynia?"

It was Bobby. He always made such an effort to get the pronunciation of her name correct. It brought her back to her time spent among the Champions when she had spent an afternoon trying to teach him rudimentary Russian. She had failed but that had been a good day, one filled with laughter. She focused and using the memory as an anchor she opened her eyes. Her breathing slowed and she wiped away the tears rushing down her face.

"Behind the desk." she called out.

" **ATTENTION: YOUR DANGER ROOM EXAMINATION HAS CONCLUDED. GRADE C-"**

"Whoa!" Bobby exclaimed as the weaponry faded away. "Are you okay? Hank said he'd worked out the kinks but I guess not…"

"I am fine, Bobby." she said having regained her composure. She could still feel the dampness of her tears as the remaining remnants were soaked into her skin but judging from Bobby's expression as she turned to face him, she had managed not to tip him off.

"That's not what I meant. The Danger Room gave you a C minus?" Bobby mocked. "Definitely have to check the diagnostics."

"I wasn't aware that the school would attempt to murder me." she said, giving him a smile. She was happy to see him; well at this point she reasoned she probably would have been happy to see _anyone_.

"Next time, you'll be prepared." Bobby assured her as he steered her down the hall. "C'mon, I'll introduce you to the others. You've already met Rogue haven't you?"

"Years ago," Laynia recalled as she entered the war room. "She was punching my brother in the face."

"If it's any consolation," Rogue began as she shook Laynia's hand. "Ah felt those punches just as much as he did."

"Is this the entire team?" Laynia asked.

"Not exactly," Rogue said. "We still have one more name on the list…'

 _ **Avengers Mansion, New York City, Tuesday**_

When it came to the Avengers, Rogue couldn't help but feel nervous. Not because of the animosity that had so recently boiled over between the Avengers and the X-Men. More so over the guilt that still twinged now and again over her time in her mother's first iteration of the Brotherhood of Mutants. Her very first official mission as part of that group had brought her face to face with the Avengers. She'd very nearly cost one of them their life that day and had almost stolen any chance she herself had had of having one of her own.

These were the thoughts that ran through the mind of Anna Marie as she approached the gates of the Avengers Mansion. Since Luke Cage had disbanded his group of Avengers and sold the mansion back to Tony Stark, it had been reconverted into a place to stay for reserve and inactive members of the team should they have need of it. Currently residing within was the final mutant on Rogue's list and truth be told he was one of the reasons she felt so apprehensive about ringing on that doorbell.

She had made use an image inducer as she made her way there, only dropping her disguise as the mansion came into full view. It might have been a mistake to wear a costume so close to the one she had worn on her first time here, the only difference being that the outlines and the stripe running down her tunic were now white instead of lime green but Rogue chose to ignore that. Many of the Avengers didn't have perfect track records either. It wasn't that Rogue was afraid of facing what she had done but when it came to her sometimes people tended to put the bad before the good.

Gingerly, Rogue pressed a gloved finger to the doorbell. After a few moments, the intercom buzzed to life.

"Edwin Jarvis, at your service. How may I help you?"

"Hi, it's Rogue. Of the X-Men. Can ah come in?"

"Ah yes!" the Avengers' butler spoke in warm and pleasant tones. "Master Logan had informed me that you would be arriving sometime this afternoon."

"Sorry if ah'm a bit early." Rogue said.

"Not at all, just one moment. I'm afraid Mr. Stark has once again updated the mansion security protocols and that always takes a bit of getting used to."

The gates to the mansion grounds soon swung open and Rogue strolled in to be greeted by Jarvis, who smiled at Rogue as she entered the mansion itself.

"I'd venture as far as to say, Miss Rogue, that your arrival is quite timely. Master Pietro never was one to sit still. He's waiting for you in the dining room. This way, please."

With that, Jarvis was off. Though the balding butler was now in his seventies, he walked at a brisk pace, turning down into a corridor to the entrance of the dining room. The long table was bare, the tablecloth's pristine white matching Pietro Maximoff's hair as he sat at the other end, arms crossed.

"I'll leave you to it," Jarvis said.

Pietro nodded to Jarvis before returning his gaze to Rogue, his blue grey eyes narrowing as she approached.

"Have a seat," he offered, gesturing lazily to one of the empty chairs. Rogue continued to stand.

"You know why ah'm here don't you? You had Wolverine arrange this meeting, made me come all this way."

"Would that perhaps be the same Wolverine who threatened to murder my sister? We may have fought on the same side during the X-Men's war against the Avengers but don't mistake that for any kind of respect for him or any of his lackeys."

"Don't be stupid Pietro. You know ah defended Wanda when the Young Avengers tracked her down."

"Yes," Quicksilver replied dryly. "Forgive me if I fail to take seriously a woman who for years pined after my father and after several of his lapses into mania subsequently entered into a relationship with him. I wonder how much your supposed mercy of Wanda is based on your feelings for a genocidal terrorist?"

"Please!" Rogue scoffed. "You act like you never took Magnus' side. Ah ain't got time for tantrums over me being your daddy's ex Pietro, ah got things to do. Ah need a speedster and you're the only one available."

"If I refuse?"

Quick as a flash, Rogue whipped out a gloveless hand and slapped Pietro right across the face, maintaining the contact as white highlights raced through her hair to reach her fringe before the weakened Pietro managed to loosen her grip and shake her off.

"How did you do that?" Pietro snarled, his Transian accent coming to the fore as he knocked his chair over and sped right into Rogue's face.

"It's called telepathy, sugah," Rogue said as she began to dissolve, the particles that consisted her being returning to the ether. But her lips weren't moving and her voice was echoing from the other side of the room. Quicksilver whirred around and sure enough there she was standing next to the window. "Ah took some along before I came. You're not gonna say no, Pietro. You keep sitting here, waiting for someone else to call you back in and say that they need you, you're gonna be waiting a long time. So you're gonna to get your head out of your ass and help us."

The wind whipped Rogue's lightened locks as Quicksilver became a blur, creating a gust strong enough to send the tablecloth clear across the room. He whizzed back in a moment later in full costume which was a similar green to Rogue's own except for a circular area below the rounded neck which was darker and the gloves and boots which were lighter. His trademark silver lightning bolt motif jutted down his chest in a near straight line before meeting a narrow band around his waist.

"Hmm…" he pondered as he looked Rogue up and down. "I may have to make some changes."

"You'll have plenty of time for that when we get to the school, we've got another day before we head to the Peak and from what ah'm feeling that's a pretty long time in your book."

"The perils of possessing an accelerated metabolism, thought processes and reflexes." Pietro explained. "I hadn't given you an answer yet but your haste could be forgiven. I'll aid you on this mission and we'll see how it goes from there."

"To be honest with you, Pietro," Rogue remarked. "Ah wouldn't have it any other way…

 _ **The Grounds of the Jean Grey School For Higher Learning, Thursday**_

"Alright folks," Rogue announced, attempting to ignore the group of students conspicuously pressed against the window to her right. "Ride's here."

It was one sweet ride. Beast Force One definitely wasn't going to cut it for this mission, especially considering that that was a one man ship. This one hovered majestically over the school grounds, causing even Krakoa to awaken from his afternoon nap to have a look. A soft blue pulse rippled from its trio of thrusters, a low hum emanating from the craft as it became stationary.

"Is that a Kree ship?" Quicksilver asked, as dust particles and bits of grass swirled around the five of them.

Betsy's butterfly aura briefly flashed in front of her as she scanned the ship.

"There's no one onboard. It's likely been preprogrammed with the coordinates we'll need," she stated, glancing over to Rogue.

"Right. We have a briefing with Agent Brand at the Peak before we leave and ah'm guessing from the paint job…" Rogue gestured to the S.W.O.R.D emblazoned side of the ship. "…that Abby'll keep us on schedule. Laynia?"

"Of course." The Russian mutant replied as she created a Darkforce disk beneath their feet, swooping them up into the air.

"Then let's get this show on the road."

 _ **Next issue: Rogue's team gets ready to take on the Brood but is everything as it seems?!**_

 _ **Meanwhile, back at the school the remaining X-Men are divided as they decide the fate of Emma Frost!**_

 _ **X-Pressions**_

 _ **Hi there! This is the first chapter of a story I first published on ( A site I'd recommend to anyone interested in reading/writing/drawing comic fanfiction or fan art). In fact, I'm still publishing it over there, but I thought try my hand a posting it here and seeing what other people think of it.**_

 _ **The story diverges from Marvel Canon during the events of All New X-Men #1(vol1) written by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by Stuart Immomen. In fact, Eva Bell's scene takes it's cues from her introductory scene in that issue, up until the point that Rogue shows up, and the plot takes a sharp right turn. Beast's problems with his secondary mutation were also a nod to that issue. My team for the most part, however is set to be completely different. Rogue's team are set to be the leads of the story, but the rest of the X-Men will have their parts to play, not to mention the students, who will be making their first collective appearance in the next chapter. And that's without even mentioning the villains...**_

 _ **I hope this first chapter was entertaining, and I look forward to any and all critique and reviews. Let me know what you think!**_

 _ **Until next time,**_

 _ **Wings**_


	2. Trial By Fire, Part One

**_Previously…_**

In the aftermath of the Phoenix coming to Earth and the death of Charles Xavier at the hands of Cyclops, the mutant race has been reignited after their numbers were reduced to scant hundreds by Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch. Now, it is up to the X-Men to rebuild.

While on a mission to help a newly emerged mutant named Eva Bell, the X-Man known as Rogue came into contact with the remnants of the Extinction Team, who had also come to help Eva. Due to the intervention of the Stepford Cuckoos, Eva escaped with Cyclops and Magneto leaving Rogue to bring the former X-Man and wanted woman Emma Frost back to the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. When Rogue returned to the school, she learned that Hank McCoy/Beast was suffering from life threatening problems relating to his mutation. Rogue and Hank managed to stabilise his mutation before Rogue was given a new mission by Wolverine and Abigail Brand, the Director of S.W.O.R.D.

Tasked with assembling a team of X-Men to take on the interstellar menace known as the Brood, Rogue assembled a team of new faces as well as old. She recruited longtime X-Men Iceman and Psylocke as well as the experienced Russian hero Darkstar and Quicksilver, a former member of the Avengers and X-Factor.

Rogue and her team journeyed into space leaving the rest of the X-Men to deal with the ramifications of Emma's arrival at the school…

 ** _The Morlock Tunnels, The Danger Cave_**

"Is this the right one?" asked the blue skinned Laurie Tromette as she fidgeted nervously at the controls and gestured for someone to double check the program which was designated v2.003 by the computer.

"Yeah, I think so," Mercury said as she slithered past, her liquid metallic form coalescing into that of a girl with bright red hair as she solidified, her silvery skin continuing to betray her mutation.

"Alright then, let's get started." Laurie muttered, as she activated the program.

"You sure you don't want to join in, Laurie?" Gabriel Cohuelo asked his fellow Light as holographic pixels reached out to touch the assembled young mutants. It now seemed as if they were onboard Asteroid M, Magneto's former base of operations. Each mutant's appearance changed as the holographic suite constructed by their former classmate David Alleyne came to life and projected a different X-Man's costume onto each of them. Rockslide chuckled as the embarrassed Anole was left in little more than his underwear having been assigned Beast by the program.

"I'm good, thanks," Laurie sighed, turning her head away from Anole.

"Don't you think it's about time you got over Wak-" Gabriel began.

"That has nothing to do with it, Gabriel!" Laurie replied angrily. "You wanted to train. Can you please just do that?"

"Line up guys!" Hellion ordered as he floated over to stand beside Match, Armor and Surge, who had already done so. Across from them stood the winged Pixie, the lizard-like Anole, the behemoth Rockslide and Velocidad as Gabriel was known in the field.

No-Girl floated behind both groups with Mercury by her side, the Danger Cave having given the living brain Magneto's helmet to wear and a purple cape that flowed out from behind her gravity sled. She began to issue telepathic commands to Mercury. Cessily carried them out as if she were metal being controlled by the Master of Magnetism. Strips of Mercury began batting away at Hellion's telekinetic barrier.

"Victor! Watch out!" Pixie, dressed as Rogue yelled as an electrical burst hurtled towards her teammate Anole. Victor Borkowski dodged out of the way with the agility granted by his lizard-like mutation as the blue haired Surge or Noriko Ashida as she was more commonly known, whizzed past him, Storm's cape billowing behind her.

"Watch it yourself, Megs!" Ben Hamill yelled back, his body covered in swathes of flame, watching as Megan disappeared in a flash of hot pink right before his flames touched her.

"Cool it, Ben." Hellion said as he flew overhead, Mercury stretching after him. "We're not trying to kill them."

"Why does everyone keep telling me to cool it?" Match said, throwing his hands up in exasperation, the heat emanating from his body briefly intensifying, becoming more white-hot. "Just because I have fire powers doesn't mean you guys have to bring it up every time you frickin' speak to-

Ben was cut off as Anole's prehensile tongue whipped past him, striking Hisako Ichiki's glowing psionic armour.

"Victor! That's disgusting!" she exclaimed as Anole's tongue whipped back into his mouth.

"I guess Toad's class was good for something. Go for it, Santo!" Victor smiled.

Distracted by Victor, Hisako had failed to notice Rockslide lumbering up behind her. She turned too late, seeing Santo's craggy features turn to his closest approximation of a smile before his fist connected with her armour and she stumbled backwards. She was wearing Wolverine's old brown and yellow uniform and as her armour went from a soft blue to an angry red she raised her right fist and caused a simulacrum of his claws to form.

"You'll regret that." She said.

"Bring it, Icky," Santo replied, laughing as Hisako barrelled towards him, screaming with rage.

"Icky, Santo? Really?" Victor commented, leaping over the pair as Hisako began cutting chunks of rock out of Rockslide's form only for Santo to reattach them.

"You try speaking with a mouth made of rocks!" Santo grumbled, before turning back to his fight with Hisako. "Talk about uptight…" he muttered as Hisako's claws plunged right through to the other side of his body.

Suddenly, Pixie reappeared right in the middle of the battleground, blinding several of the combatants. Right as she was about to catch her breath though, Noriko started streaking towards her.

"Gabriel!" she screeched, ozone filling the air as Nori neared.

"Here," Velocidad's reply reaching Megan's ear as he sped past before she turned to face the incoming Hellion and Mercury.

He and Nori became a veritable flurry of activity, both oblivious to the others as the fighting began anew. The pair ducked and dived as they threw punches, traded blows and occasionally kicked out at each other. Nori's connected with Gabriel's face, her gauntlet covered fist slamming into his cheek before she pushed her advantage by letting loose a set of streamers from her gauntlets that sent Gabriel skittering into Match's line of fire, who obliged by sending a string of flames in Gabriel's direction. Gabriel had founded himself cornered with Hellion and Mercury keeping Pixie occupied, Rockslide trying not to fall apart and Anole nowhere in sight as Match and Surge approached.

It was right at that moment that the power chose to fail, the fantastic environment the Danger Cave provided reverting back to it's original dull metal surface, not even illuminated by any of the installed lights which were spread through the Cave. With a sigh, Surge turned away from Velocidad and approached the main console, Laurie stepping out of the way as she passed.

"Haven't you two ever watched "Dumb Ways to Die"?" Gabriel asked the two girls as Surge began pouring electricity into the nearby generator.

"Do you shut up?" Surge retorted, not taking her eyes off the generator.

"No," Pixie sighed as if the mere thought of it made her tired, much to the amusement of the other students. "He doesn't."

"Well this sucks," Match announced. No-Girl chimed in with a similar comment. Surge glared at them both before Hellion stepped in.

"He has a point, Nori. Look at us. We're hiding in the basement." He stated.

"Most of you chose to come back to the school, Julian," Surge said, cutting off the electrical flow from her gauntlets.

"The old school, San Fran, Utopia, here. It doesn't matter where we go or what we do, we're always the ones the X-Men leave by the wayside and now we're letting it happen again. Half of them are on missions or recruiting **_new_** students and the other half gave us the day off so they could deal with Ms. Frost. Well, I'm sick of it. Seems like some of the others are too."

By now the group had all surrounded Julian and Nori as they digested Julian's words.

"What do you want me to do? We can't stop Wolverine from smothering us in cotton wool. Not even those two can." Nori replied, gesturing to Armor and Pixie. "Not until we graduate."

"Umm…Sorry to interrupt but why bother?" Laurie interjected. "Why do we have fight? The X-Men are all doing what _**I**_ used to do. Maybe we've done enough?"

The group remained silent for several moments, a couple of them turning to each other and trying to get a read on their fellow students. None of them seemed that willing to offer their opinion before Surge, whose temper was decidedly flared, turned away from Julian to face Laurie, quiet anger continuing to shape her features.

"We're Wakandan war criminals. Victor got his arm chopped off. Pixie got part of her soul torn out. Hellion lost his hands to a bunch of Sentinels from the future. And half of us got disowned way before a busload of our friends got blown to bits because they **_used_** to be mutants." Surge said. "We've got choices. Not fighting just isn't one of them."

 ** _Kree Space, above the planet Aurini Four_**

Ronan the Accuser, former ruler of the Kree stood as his pained eyes stared at what was in front of him. Battle reports from the planet below his ship streaming across rectangular holographic windows which all painted a similar and dire picture. The Kree forces on the ground were in dire straits. Every time the Brood infected one of his men, Ronan knew that the Kree Empire had lost a soldier and that the Brood had gained a new one. Omni-Wave Projectors, which had proven effective against the Brood in the past were being kept as a last resort as they had a similarly fatal impact on the planet's native flora and fauna. Perhaps why the Brood had wanted to nest here. Brood were hardy creatures and bombing had also proven ineffective. The fact that the conflict could have been avoided only made things worse…

Ronan turned his tired eyes away from the screens as the group of Earth mutants walked in. Despite their superior firepower, the Kree were losing on the ground where it mattered and Ronan had been forced to call in outside help in the form of the heroes known as the X-Men. They were five in number and Ronan had met several of them. Rogue and Psylocke, he had encountered years prior when Earth had been temporarily turned into a prison planet. Indeed, Psylocke had managed to wound him during that encounter. There was also the Avenger Quicksilver, the ex husband of Ronan's former wife, the Inhuman princess called Crystal. The other two he recognised from his files as the cryokinetic Iceman and Darkstar, a powerful Darkforce wielder.

"X-Men," Ronan announced with weariness in his voice, approaching the mutants as he let the displays behind him flicker and die. "The Kree people are grateful of your willingness to assist."

"Always happy to help," Iceman offered.

"I appreciate that this isn't particularly easy for any of you given our mutual past but I must be blunt." Ronan said, as a new projection of the world below appeared in between himself and the X-Men. "You're required to eliminate the Brood Queen nesting on this world. We've managed to narrow down her location but there are Brood including Firstborn firmly entrenched across the planet. We haven't been able to get near her and the fact that she's made her base of operations in one of the planet's wilder regions doesn't help a great deal in finding an exact location. She's coordinates the entire Brood army telepathically and needs to be taken out of the equation for us to engage in an effective counter-attack."

"Firstborn?" Darkstar asked, her blonde hair held back by a black tiara.

"Ugh, I hate those ones." Bobby muttered. "I can tell you about them on the way."

"Forgive me," Ronan said, raising an eyebrow at this exchange. "But how many of you have actually faced the Brood in battle before?"

Darkstar looked slightly sheepish as Rogue stepped forwards towards Ronan.

"Ah wouldn't have brought this team if ah didn't think they could handle it," she told him, catching his gaze and holding it.

"I hope so. My men are **_dying_** , X-Man." Ronan uttered solemnly. "The combined information of the Kree and Shi'ar on the Brood has now been made available to you. I suggest you go through it **_before_** you depart."

Rogue looked as if she was about to say something but thought better of it, turning to walk away. Ronan had just undermined her in front of her team. He didn't have time to mend her wounded pride though. If her team was as good as she believed them to be then no words would change the ultimate outcome. If they failed then Da'ast them all.

Rogue and her team began to file out of the room, Ronan's last words and subsequent silence having been taken as a cue for the mutants to leave.

"I'd like to borrow Quicksilver for a moment, Rogue, if you wouldn't mind," Ronan said as the mutants reached the door of his War Room.

"Fine. Not like ah can stop you, is it?" she replied as she walked through the door.

The others followed after her. Quicksilver cast a momentary glance back at Psylocke, who had paused at the door.

"Telepaths," Ronan remarked, as Psylocke left the room. "Incredibly nosy lot."

"Spare me," Quicksilver said. "What is it that you want?"

"If you survive-"

"There's no question of that."

"I want you to-"

"No."

"I am speaking, speedster! Let me complete a sentence for Supremor's sake!"

"I am not going to ferry your love letters to my wife, no matter what power you pretend to control."

" _ **Your**_ wife?"

"Crystal had our marriage annulled while I was being impersonated by a Skrull. As far as I am concerned, we are **_still_** married."

Ronan struggled to remain impassive as he spoke his next words, his breath almost catching in his throat. "Good. She may no longer be by my side but I still have a duty to her. I'm glad you feel the same. You will have to be good enough for the both of us. You must care for Crystal, Quicksilver and be the father Luna needs."

"Are you done giving me orders?" Quicksilver asked as he crossed his arms.

"No. I am not. I have a counter strike to prepare and your team has an important part in making sure it will be a success. We must each play our part in the grander scheme of things, Quicksilver and not sully ourselves in our own selfish whims. You would do well to remember that."

Quicksilver stood still briefly then harrumphed before whizzing out of the room.

Satisfied that he was now alone Ronan moved back to his previous position, the blue skinned fingers of his right hand running over the section of armour he wore on his left forearm. He felt for the button, pressed it and activated the communications link. Again, a holographic projection took form in front of him. A giant mass of green, a glow emanated from the creature's eyes and mouth and tentacles flowed from the top of it as the massive disembodied head floated in a bio tank faraway on the Kree homeworld of Hala.

"They have arrived?" The Supreme Intelligence enquired.

"Yes," Ronan replied. "They'll soon be on their way."

"What of the telepath?"

"As in the dark as the rest of them. My defences held."

"Good. Earth's heroes have always proven themselves far too meddlesome for anyone's good. Proceed as planned."

 ** _The Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, Main Building_**

Emma Frost heard whispers not thoughts as she was escorted through the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. Her escort, Joanna Cargill was clearly enjoying this. She held her by her by the shoulder as they made their way down the hall. A few of the children she recognised as she passed them in the hall, chief among them Sooraya Qadir, the Afghani mutant called Dust. Emma turned to look back at her former student but Joanna tightened her grip and forced Emma to continue moving forward.

Ever since Scott had ripped the Phoenix Force out of her any control she had over her life had disappeared. Her mutation failed her. She was transferred twice and both times been attacked by the resurgent Purifiers, having to rely first on the Avengers and then on Magneto and Scott to protect her. With no place to go, Emma had accepted Scott's invitation to join him and listened as he talked of rescuing new mutants and training them to face the world. She seemed to be the only one who was aware that their powers weren't the only thing that was broken. Emma's faith in Scott, the faith that had led her to stay by his side when so many of the others had left had been shattered.

So here she was, moving forward literally as well as metaphorically while Cargill or Frenzy as she was known in the field painfully clutched at Emma. They were nearly there and this was the last chance Cargill had to rub salt into the wound.

"You've been unusually quiet, Cargill." Emma remarked, as they turned down another hallway, this one seemingly devoid of man, mutant or anything in between.

"Figure that's been driving you nuts, Frost, hasn't it? Dying to know exactly what I want to say to you?"

"I don't care for any word that comes out of your mouth actually."

"Yeah?" Joanna asked, a malicious snarl crossing her ebony features as she turned Emma around to face her before shoving her into a nearby set of lockers, a sharp metallic clang ringing out down both ends of the hallway. "I'm not a peasant for you to crush under your heel anymore, Frost. You're nothing but a piece of trash now, and if you want me to take out the garbage-"

"Miss Cargill," A new and softer voice commanded. "Stop."

Frenzy turned to face the voice to find Dust, clothed in a black abaya and niqab veil, her bright brown eyes betraying her concern for Emma and her fear of Cargill.

"Get to class," Cargill ordered.

"Today's classes have been cancelled," Sooraya reminded her as she tentatively stepped towards the two women.

" ** _Scram,_** Qadir," Frenzy warned. Sooraya briefly came to a stop at her words before deciding to come closer again, drifting instead of placing feet on the ground as she began shifting to her sand-form.

"It's fine, Sooraya. I'm quite capable of handling the likes of Joanna Cargill." Emma assured her, fighting the dull pain spreading across her shoulder and upper back.

"Why are you the one shoved up against the lockers, then?" Joanna sneered.

"Because I'm not resorting to the behaviour of a playground bully to reaffirm my status as a member of the X-Men. Unless you're in the mood for a reprimand from a senior member of the school's staff, I'd let go before you make me late."

Sooraya stepped out of the way as Cargill let Emma go. Emma quickly recovered and gave Sooraya a smile as she passed the young mutant before striding down the hall. Cargill followed after her as Dust watched on.

"Like I said, Qadir," Frenzy said, as she briefly turned back to look at Dust. " ** _Scram._** If I see so much as a grain of sand, you'll regret it. And don't _**ever**_ tell me what to do."

Sooraya made eye contact and held Frenzy's hard stare before molecule by molecule she carried herself back the way she had come, a living sandstorm riding on the air. Then, she was gone.

"Frost!" Joanna bellowed as she turned her attention back to Emma, who had stopped halfway down the hall.

"Yes, Joanna dear?" Emma mocked, as her lips formed a smirk.

"I didn't say you could move. I'm your escort, remember?" Joanna reminded her as she marched up to where Emma stood.

"Yes," Emma agreed, her expression unchanged as she gestured to the door she stood beside. "And this is the Staff Room. Your duty has been fulfilled and your services are no longer required."

Satisfied, Emma twisted the doorknob and entered before Joanna had a chance to react, the door closing firmly behind her.

Sunlight from large windows flooded into the room decorated with brownstone pillars and pictures of days long since past. The centrepiece of the room was a long silver coloured table. On the other side of it, away from Emma and sat beside each other were Logan and Pryde. Emma walked over to them and sat opposite them in the chair that had been provided for her.

"How is Henry?" she asked as she sat down.

"I'm sure Hank will appreciate the concern but that isn't why you're here," Kitty reminded coolly.

"I would very much appreciate clarification, Katherine as to why I'm here actually," Emma stated. "I wasn't informed what this meeting was about."

It was things like this that made Emma so aware of the loss of control her actions had been suffering since the day the Phoenix had consumed her and several of her teammates. Like her former prison cell and Scott's safe haven every facet of Emma's life in the Jean Grey School up until this point had been up to someone else. Where she went, where she slept, the food she ate, the clothes she wore….It infuriated Emma to no end. The White Queen would take her life back.

"We've made a decision," Kitty announced. "I can't say I'm exactly thrilled but…

"You get to stick around," Logan said.

"Just like that?" Emma asked.

"Of course not," Kitty replied, the distrust in her hazel eyes flaming up once more. "There's terms involved. You'll be staying at the school and won't be allowed to go anywhere else without supervision. Likewise for communication. You won't be serving as a member of the X-Men, just as a junior member of the school's staff under Logan and I."

"So, I'm still very much a prisoner," Emma said.

"You ain't got any idea how many strings we had to pull to get you this deal, Frost. So suck it up," Logan replied. "After what you did during the whole Phoenix-

"I did nothing you aren't," Emma stated. "But my legal status hasn't changed has it? I'd assume my standing among the X-Men would have changed even less so."

"Wolverine has everyone here on their knees having their thoughts policed?" Kitty shot back, her tone of voice incredulous.

"My question still stands," Emma said, her eyes remaining on Logan.

"You're nothin' but trouble for anyone but us. You got a clue how many people have been tryin' to kill you? You're real lucky these new Purifiers ain't packin' the punch they used to or you'd be dead right now." Logan said simply.

"It's nice to know the lengths we went to to become mutant celebrities weren't a waste," Emma noted. "But what makes you so willing to bring a target like me to your school?"

"You're not the only one of us who built up a reputation, Frost," Logan replied, briefly hardening one of his hands into a fist, not even bothering to unsheathe the razor sharp adamantium claws contained within. "An' I think **_you know_** why."

"I'll help you bring in Scott if I can Logan-" Emma started.

"No. This ain't about Scott. Can't be about Scott," Logan said dismissively. "Much as I'd like it to be. This is about the kids. Kids like that girl back in Australia who Rogue has on her conscience because the Cuckoos made sure she couldn't help her. It's people like those two you should be thinkin' about. Eva Bell didn't even get a chance to make up her own mind. That's on you."

"You think I don't?" Emma asked as Logan got up from the table.

"I ain't doubtin' it," Logan told her as he made for the door. "But you can't do squat to prove it from a jail cell. You're here. So you're better off makin' yourself useful."

With that, Logan stood and left, leaving Kitty and Emma alone.

"I suppose there's nothing else to be done except for me to be shown to my quarters," Emma mused as she rose to her feet.

"Ooooh…Believe me there's plenty," Kitty told her. "You've been assigned English and Mutant Literature, no way are you being let anywhere near Ethics…"

"English and Mutant Literature? But those are Paige Guthrie's classes." Emma said confused.

"How do you… Nevermind, Paige left." Kitty said, clearly not wanting to say more.

"Why?" Emma asked.

"That **_isn't_** your concern." Kitty said, her voice calm but with more than a hint of quiet anger.

"My students are **_always_** my concern," Emma corrected, favouring Kitty with a glare.

"Paige stopped being your student a while ago." Kitty reminded her.

"Well then perhaps I should also take Robert's Accountacy class as well? If you want me to remain focused solely on my present ones."

"How do you know he's not here?" Kitty asked, narrowing her eyes as she did so, suspicion playing across her face.

"This isn't a telepathic return to form," Emma said, a smile crossing her face once more. "I haven't managed that yet. He paid me a visit last week. "

"What?" Kitty exclaimed.

"Don't worry, " Emma said, her assurance empty. "All he did was ask if I could help Angel. How is our dear Mr. Worthington these days?"

 ** _The skies of Aurini Four, approaching the Brood Queen nest…_**

Pietro's eyes danced from screen to screen as he took stock of the constant stream of diagnostic data, watching for updates while simultaneously keeping an eye on the world flying by the shuttle he was currently operating. As the pilot and his team's keenest mind, Pietro had to stay alert to any and all incoming threats. They'd managed to make it this close to their destination in large part thanks to him and Pietro reminded himself that his skill might get them to the surface. If he remained focused.

However, his conversation with Ronan kept running through his mind. He had talked about Crystal being his wife but he hadn't seen either Crystal or their daughter since the Inhumans had returned to the Blue Area of the Moon. When they got back to Earth, Pietro would have to rectify that.

First, he had to survive. Everything seemed fine but Pietro's eyes flashed to his compatriot sitting next to him. Braddock had her eyes closed and both hands pressed to her temples, a radiant magenta butterfly aura pulsing in front of her. Pietro was thankful that in addition to his robust psychic defences he had had the foresight to bring a telepathy blocker. His experience of telepaths was not particularly pleasant. Braddock had given him no reason to trust her and given his own secrets, he had no intention of allowing her into his mind.

Then, she began to frown and though it was barely noticeable at first as the frown became more pronounced so to did the butterfly aura become brighter, the psionic energies making up the shape jittering. Finally, she let out a breath Pietro hadn't known she had been holding and fell back into her seat, her hand rubbing her forehead.

"Betsy?" Rogue called out as she made her way up from the back of the shuttle flanked by Iceman and Darkstar. Drake had iced up at this stage and Laynia had her Darkforce at the ready.

"R-R-Rogue…We have a problem." Braddock said, her breathing ragged. "The amount of psionic muscle the Brood are employing…I can't cloak us. They couldn't get into my head either but I can't-"

At that something slammed into the left side of the craft sending the three standing members stumbling into each other. Pietro struggled to try and regain control of the shuttle as it started veering sideways, the engine groaning under the added strain. Rattled, Pietro saw Psylocke take action beside him, her hands glowing as she made use of her telekinesis to right the shuttle before unstrapping and making her way to the others in the back. Pietro stayed at the controls a moment longer and the ship wobbled again.

"Quicksilver!" Rogue shouted. "Get back here!"

Psylocke continued to try to keep the shuttle steady as Pietro unstrapped, seeing nothing but empty sky from the cockpit. Whatever it was chose to bang into the side again, forcing Pietro to grab into his seat to stay upright as Psylocke clutched her head and winced.

"Would you hurry up, please?" she exclaimed as Pietro made his way to her and the others. He noticed for the first time the sizeable dent made by the first impact. Pietro could appreciate the protection the telekinetic field Betsy was projecting provided.

"Laynia," Rogue said turning to Darkstar once everyone was close enough together. "Can you get us to those coordinates?"

"I'll do my best," Laynia said, taking a deep breath as she focused. Shadows in her hands flowed outwards and engulfed them all.

As Pietro watched the blackness pass over him he experienced a brief sensation of weightlessness before he stumbled out of the darkness again. They'd emerged in some manner of forest with gashes marking the trees around them. The opaque sap oozing out of them almost seemed to shine. Sunlight on the other hand barely made through the leafy trees. The leaves were a comforting green but their shadows gave the place the eerie effect that night was already upon them, though not nearly as dark as the night Pietro had just experienced.

"Good job," Rogue said as she placed a hand on Laynia's shoulder to Pietro's right, having both managed to stay upright. Darkstar smiled briefly before Rogue turned her attention to Betsy who brushed Drake off as she got up off the ground.

"I'm fine," she said as she flicked a loose strand of her purple hair out of her face. "I'm f-

Everyone's head turned as they heard the sound of their shuttle crashing into the planet's surface. They were far enough away that they couldn't feel the ground shake but though the area they were in was untamed and full of dense undergrowth Pietro could tell it hadn't been that far off.

"We would have had to crash that thing anyway." Bobby said weakly. "We couldn't have landed it."

"Ah'll be sure to tell the Kree that when ah call it in," Rogue said sarcastically before becoming serious. "You think that was a Firstborn?"

"I can't be sure but I don't think they were that strong." Bobby said. "And the Firstborn I fought couldn't fly. Teleport? Yes. Fly? No."

"So this is something else then." Pietro interrupted. "Something the combined intelligence of the galaxy's two largest interstellar empires have never come across."

"Are we sure it wasn't native?" Darkstar questioned while gesturing to the marked trees. "It might be what made these marks."

"We would have been warned," Pietro retorted. "The Brood are fighting a war. It would be only natural for them to be territorial."

"They're not animals, Quicksilver," Psylocke warned, still shaken. "They're much worse than that."

"Either way, it means we need to get this done ASAP and get away from the crash," Rogue said. "Pietro, you and Laynia take point. Bobby and Betsy 'll guard our rear. If that thing was Brood then they already know we're here."

Pietro soon managed to fall into step with Laynia. He saw Rogue pull her hood over her head, covering herself as well as she could.

They all knew that Rogue was the most vulnerable here. He had his speed and Laynia and the others had their own advantages but Rogue's power was worse than useless against Brood and taking power from the rest of them would only make them more susceptible to becoming infected. Until they made it out, she would have to rely on them to keep her safe and they would have to rely on her to keep them **_all_** safe. Pietro wasn't sure how happy he was with that situation but if they were to work as a team from here on in, he thought of it as a better test than most.

Nothing left but to launch themselves into the fray.

 **Next: The X-Men vs The Brood! For real this time!**


End file.
